Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Tick tock.

Seconds, minutes, hours, or days,

you remain unbothered by countless delays.

Sighing and sneezing, your time passes quick

til you start listening to the clock’s little ticks.

Constantly tapping or shifting in place,

you find yourself staring at empty space.

Twiddling your thumbs and tapping your feet,

while changing positions in your little seat.

As anxious as you might seem to others,

you remain calm, quiet, and quite unbothered.

Tempted to whistle, but too shy for sounds,

you check left and right to see if anyone’s around.

Then right when you’re ready to pucker your lips

you hear someone cough through the dusty old bricks.

Old magazines and books are sitting out

so you grab one or two to see what they’re about.

One, two, three; you read a few lines

and look up hoping you’ve wasted some time.

Headlines read, “If you want to learn more, read on…”

but you close all the pages and let out a yawn.

How long have I been here? You’re anxious to know.

You wonder how long til you can finally get home.

Checking the wall clocks and often your wrist,

you wonder how low your name was on the list.

You get up to ask how much longer you’ll wait

then see a sign “Sorry! On our lunch break!”